Today, I’m doing something a little different and not doing a strange British sports car, rather a strange German sports car (segne das mutterland).

Artega was a German sports car (obviously) company that was once headquartered in Delbrück, Germany. Founded by Klaus Dieter Friers in 2006, the original plan was to create sports car with a more eco-friendly footprint to boost the environmental world after the recession in 2009. With help from Henrik Fisker, Friers originally intended to build the GT as a solar-powered luxury roadster, competing with the Tesla Roadster. However, it ended up being quite the opposite.

The GT finally debuted in 2009, sporting a rather striking body that was influenced by both Porsche and Ferrari. It was not powered by a solar-powered engine, rather, a Volkswagen-sourced VR6 to the rear wheels in an RMR layout. It was mated to a 6-speed DSG, and produced 296 bhp, with a claimed 0-100 kmh time of 4.8 seconds. Basically, it was a pretty modest sports car with modest numbers, nothing very special.

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Prices started at €75,000, and with that you got a rather attractive full-leather cockpit with decently styled gauges and an infotainment center. If anything, the interior was the only aspect of the car that was true to the original vision, it was definitely a luxurious place to be.

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The story of the Artega GT is rather underwhelming, as production halted in 2012 after Artega filed for bankruptcy. I’d blame the fact that Herr Friers seemed to largely jump the gun with a lot of things, investing a lot of money in a humongous factory in Delbrück and aiming for a production run of 500 a year. No final production numbers have been found, but it’s safe to say he never got to that 500 a year. In 2012, they did finally unveil an electric version, but the company went bust before they got a chance to make it, as later that year, the company filed for bankruptcy. There is minor hope though, as Friers seems keen to give it another shot, releasing two new concepts in 2015.